A smelter planned for Papua is estimated to cost US$1 billion, will have a capacity of 900,000 tons per year, needs 54 months for construction and is to be operational by late 2020 at the latest.

"The energy and mineral resources minister's visit resulted in an agreement to build a smelter in Papua. The construction will use foreign funds while PT Freeport will supply the concentrates to be processed in the smelter," Papua Governor Lukas Enembe said on Tuesday in Jayapura.

The smelter will be built in the Poumako area in Timika, Mimika regency, in a 650-hectare plot of land. In addition to a smelter, the area will also be built into an industrial zone.

Meanwhile, Papua Mining Agency head Bangun Manurung said the project would need 50 megawatts (MW) of electricity: the smelter needs 10 MW while the refinery and utilities each need 20 MW.

"The smelter will not use electricity from the planned Urumka hydropower plant, which is still in the planning stage," said Bangun, who is also head of the smelter development team.

"We will use other technology for the smelter, which will use a continuous process so that the resulting heat can be used to generate electricity."

Bangun said the smelter would have a gas-fired power plant using GE technology while the smelter itself will use a technology developed by China ENFI Engineering CO. Ltd., a subsidiary of the Chinese nonferrous metal industry's Foreign Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd. The project will be financed by the Bank of China.

In addition to a gas-fired power plant, other facilities will include a copper smelter, a copper refinery, a gold and silver refinery, a sulfuric acid factory and an oxygen factory. (nvn)(+++)

At the end of January 2015, there were at least 38 political prisoners in Papuan jails.

The notable apparent decrease in the number of political prisoners is due to updated information on cases where news is often inaccessible or hard to come by. As timely information is often difficult to obtain, it is at times challenging to confirm if a political prisoner has been released. Additionally, news was also received this month of the release of six political prisoners in the Aimas 1 May case last November, following the end of their 1.5 year prison sentences. While the number of political prisoners recorded this month is comparably lower than those recorded in previous months, reports of mass arrests, ill-treatment and torture continue.

In January, at least 78 people were arrested in Utikini village and detained at Mimika Regional police office following the shooting of two Mobile Brigade (Brigade Mobil, Brimob) officers and one Freeport security officer. During the large-scale raid in Timika, at least 116 people were rounded up, including 48 women and three children. At least four people were reported to have suffered serious injuries from torture and ill-treatment, 439 homes were reportedly burned down and five people, including a baby, are believed to have died due to a lack of food and medicine after fleeing the violence.

The terrorising of whole communities in retaliation for armed activity demonstrates a common form of collective punishment used by security forces against indigenous Papuans. Similar reprisal attacks were also seen in Pirime district, Lanny Jaya in July 2014 and Puncak Illaga district, Timika in December 2014. Local communities in conflict areas are often targeted for arbitrary arrest and suffer torture, ill-treatment and internal displacement. While it is hard to ascertain the exact number of people living in such areas who are at risk of serious human rights violations, reports received from Papuan human rights sources indicate that the figure is in the thousands. The raid on Utikini village in Timika this month alone has reportedly resulted in around 5,000 internally displaced people. It is difficult to obtain accurate and timely information on the situation in these areas as they are often remote and heavily controlled by security forces. Instead of ensuring the protection of basic rights for local communities, the presence of security forces seem to be deeply destabilising.

Also in Timika this month, a student was heavily beaten by Brimob officers because he could not afford to pay for a meal at a street stall. He was shot when he attempted to retaliate by fighting back and throwing stones. The tendency for security forces to resort to the use of firearms to respond to the slightest provocation or in some instances, as the first measure used on arrest or detention of unarmed individuals, is an ongoing serious concern regarding policing methods. Such trigger-happy responses were seen in the ‘Bloody Paniai’ incident and in demonstrations in Dogiyai last month, as well as events in Yotefa market in July and August 2014. It is important to highlight that in almost all recorded cases, the perpetrators continue to enjoy total impunity.

Newly received information regarding the Bloody Paniai case has revealed that on 8 December 2014, four Papuans were fatally shot, and not the previously reported number of six. While the National Human Rights Commission of Indonesia (Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia, Komnas HAM) has formed a Fact Finding Team (Tim Penyelidikan Fakta, TPF), such a mechanism is only able to submit recommendations to the Indonesian government. Human rights groups are pushing for Komnas HAM to establish an Investigative Commission into Human Rights Violations (Komisi Penyelidikan Pelanggaran HAM, KPP HAM) in order to be able to bring the case to trial.

A patient smiles during his eye examination. Once a year, the ICRC collaborates with the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) and Dian Harapan Hospital in Jayapura, Papua, to provide this much-needed health service. photo gallery

Cataracts are a major cause of blindness in Indonesia. In the remote province of Papua, bordering Papua New Guinea, a medical team at Dian Harapan Hospital in Jayapura partner each year with the ICRC and the Indonesian Red Cross to bring hope to those suffering from debilitating eye conditions. In 2014, the operation was organized in Tolikara district 2 hours flight from Jayapura.

Since 2006, Dian Harapan Hospital – with financial support from the ICRC and logistical support from Palang Merah Indonesia (PMI, the Indonesian Red Cross) – have assisted people from this remote region where access to health care is limited. Of 354 people who had their eyes examined in December 2014, 170 received corrective glasses, while 54 residents of Tolikara underwent surgery to remove cataracts.